Raise Your Hand If You Want a Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich...

I was sitting on my deck this morning, enjoying the birds singing and the fireworks, set off by neighborhood children. Over this, I heard the voice of someone, probably 12 years old, say "Raise your hand if you want a peanut butter and jelly sandwich". I immediately flashed back to my summertime childhood. Bike riding, neighbor's houses....And I began to wonder...When and why do we allow things in life to become so distorted? "Who wants a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?" What could be more important in a given moment? I pictured 7 or 8 children, standing at the door. Of the 7 or 8, I know that at least 4 or 5 were frantically raising and waving their hands. It's 11:30...Breakfast was hours ago. Who knows when you might check in at home...3pm? You NEED that sandwich to get you through til then. "Yes, yes....I want, no, I NEED the peanut butter and jelly to get me through!! Please, please include me!"

When did life decree that there was something more important than a peanut butter and jelly sandwich? When did being in bed at 10 become more important than playing kick the can at the same hour? When, and why, did those things change? And why did I have to travel the world, work so many jobs and survive 2 marriages to realize what I already knew.....A peanut butter and jelly sandwich around noon was all I needed to get me through the day?

When I was a kid, I was sick a lot with asthma. Many nights my mother sat up with me as I coughed and wheezed my way through an attack. When things grew particularly bad, she'd say "Come on, be mama's little soldier...You can battle through this". For...

This past week, we went to my niece's graduation from high school. It was so much fun! We got to see so many family members we have not seen in awhile and it was wonderful. But perhaps the most fun was my getting to play "Aunt" to my great nephew...